(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing augmented reality. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus that detect a marker and display information within an augmented reality environment.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Augmented reality is virtual reality technology that illustrates one image by adding virtual information to a real world image viewed by a user. This type of augmented reality is used in many fields such as an education, a game, and an advertisement. To display virtual information, augmented reality detects a material of a real world or uses a marker having special information. Augmented reality provides an effect in which a virtual material exists in a real world by synthesizing virtual information at a position of a detected object and a marker. However, such a method depends on a position of a marker or a material within an image. That is, existing technology only represents information at corresponding position when detecting a marker.
Further, when augmented reality is applied to a vehicle, a detected marker is represented at a location on a traveling route and thus a driver's visual field is disturbed. Particularly, when a large amount of information is to be represented on a screen, due to virtual information that is represented in a synthesized image, visual field security necessary when a user acquires information of a real world may be limited. For example, when a vehicle stops at an intersection and a front building is a point of interest (POI) and a marker is displayed at the front building, a signal light may be covered by the marker. In this case, the driver should turn off POI information or forcibly move the marker to another location. In this way, when the position is manually set, the driver's concentration while traveling a vehicle may be distributed.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.